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WHAT’S BRUIN: Baseball News & Notes 4/20
Links: Quick Facts / Roster / Schedule & Results / Statistics / Press Releases
Multimedia: Live Stats / Video / KFOX Radio
Overall Record: 16-18 (Home 5-4, Road 9-8, Neutral 2-6)
NWC Record: 12-9, 5th (Home 5-4, Road 7-5)
HIGHLIGHTS:
* COMING UP: Final NWC Series with Linfield Apr. 21-22 at U of Portland
* Ranta, Clifford Honorable Mention for NWC Pitching, Batting Awards
* NCAA STATS: 4 Bruins Ranked Among National Leaders in 9 Categories
* NWC STATS: Ranta Ranks in Top 3 in League in 6 Different Statistics
* COMING UP: Final NWC Series with Linfield Apr. 21-22 at U of Portland
- Sat., Apr. 21, 12:00 pm - vs. Linfield College, Portland, Ore. (DH)
- Sun., Apr. 22, 1:00 pm - vs. Linfield College , Portland, Ore.
NEWBERG, Ore. – Closing out Northwest Conference play, the George Fox University Bruins hope to keep alive their streak of 16 straight winning season while playing the role of ‘spoiler’ against their Yamhill County rivals, the Linfield College Wildcats, with a three-game series this Saturday-Sunday, Apr. 21-22, at the University of Portland’s Joe Etzel Field.
George Fox (16-18, NWC 12-9) and Linfield (21-10, NWC 15-6) will play a doubleheader on Saturday at 12:00 noon and a single game on Sunday at 1:00 p.m., ending conference play for both teams. The series was rescheduled in Portland due to unplayable conditions in the Bruins’ Morse Field outfield, a situation that has plagued the team all season due to poor drainage and record-setting spring rain.
Fans who cannot make it to the games this weekend can follow all of them via George Fox’s live stats program. Saturday’s twinbill will also be webcast live via campus station KFOX radio, with Justin Sweeney handling the play-by-play. See the George Fox multimedia links above to catch the games.
The NWC race is still up in the air. Pacific University leads the league at 14-4 with six to play, followed by Whitworth University at 13-5 with six left, Linfield at 15-6, Pacific Lutheran University at 12-6 with six left, and George Fox at 12-9. While the Bruins have been all but mathematically eliminated from the chase, they can have a significant say in the Wildcats’ chances. Linfield appears to need at least two wins in the George Fox series and help from some other teams if the 26th-ranked Wildcats and pre-season conference favorites are to have any hope at all of winning the league and the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament that goes with it.
Probable starters on the hill for the Bruins will be RHP Brian Ranta (5-1, 2.30, 61 K’s, 74.1 ip), RHP Taylor Dunn (3-2, 2.52, 40 K’s, 60.2 ip), and RHP Tom Zarosinski (1-6, 5.72, 49 K’s, 50.1 ip). The Bruins’ offense is led by C Josh Rapacz (.380-0-24), OF David Greenstein (.375-2-17), 3B Danny Clifford (.348-6-27), RF Timothy Williams (.319-0-18), and 1B Derek Dixon (.312-0-12).
Linfield will likely counter with RHP Ryan Larson (6-1, 1.86, 50 K’s, 63.0 ip), RHP Zach Brandon (4-0, 3.21, 23 K’s, 42.0 ip), and RHP Zach Manley (3-1, 3.62, 39 K’s, 32.1 ip). The Wildcats are led at the plate by 2B Tim Wilson (.377-2-18), C Kyle Chamberlain (.330-0-19), OF Kramer Lindell (.317-6-25), and OF Zach Boskovich (.269-6-23).
BRUIN BITS:
* Ranta, Clifford Honorable Mention for NWC Pitching, Batting Awards
A solid effort in a no-decision by right-hander Brian Ranta and a pair of home runs in a .400 week by third baseman Danny Clifford have earned them honorable mention for the Northwest Conference Baseball Pitching and Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week awards respectively for games of Apr. 9-15.
Ranta, a senior from Clackamas, Ore., went the first 6.1 innings in the Bruins’ conference series opener at Pacific Lutheran on Apr. 14. He left after spacing eight hits while allowing three runs, only two earned, with 10 strikeouts and five walks. The bullpen eventually lost his 6-2 lead, but the Bruins later pulled out an 8-6 win with two runs in the 11th inning.
Clifford, a sophomore from Canby, Ore., began the week with a 2-3 game with a run scored and a stolen base in a 7-1 loss to Corban on Apr. 10 at Volcanoes Stadium. In an 8-6 11-inning first-game win at Pacific Lutheran on Apr. 14, he was 1-4 with a walk, a hit by pitch, and hit the go-ahead solo home run to lead off the 11th that gave the Bruins the win. He was 0-3 with a walk in a second-game 8-2 loss, then went 3-5 with a double, a run and an RBI in the Bruins’ 10-6 loss in the series finale. For the week, he batted .400 (6-15) with a double, a home run, a .667 slugging pct., a .500 on base pct., three runs scored and two RBIs.
* 2012 Honors
David Greenstein
- Northwest Conference Hitting Student-Athlete of the Week - Feb. 13-19; Feb. 27-Mar. 4 (HM)
- Bruin Athletic Association Athlete of the Week - Feb. 13-19
Brian Ranta
- Northwest Conference Pitching Student-Athlete of the Week - Feb. 20-26; Mar. 19-25; Mar. 26-Apr. 1; Apr. 9-15 (HM)
- Bruin Athletic Association Athlete of the Week - Feb. 20-26; Mar. 19-25
Timothy Williams
- Northwest Conference Hitting Student-Athlete of the Week - Feb. 20-26 (HM); Mar. 26-Apr. 1 (HM)
Taylor Dunn
- Northwest Conference Pitching Student-Athlete of the Week - Feb. 27-Mar. 4 (HM); Mar. 12-18 (HM); Apr. 2-8 (HM)
- Bruin Athletic Association Athlete of the Week - Feb. 27-Mar. 4
Josh Rapacz
- Northwest Conference Hitting Student-Athlete of the Week - Mar. 5-11 (HM); Apr. 2-8 (HM)
Alex Keenan
- Northwest Conference Pitching Student-Athlete of the Week - Mar. 5-11 (HM)
Danny Clifford
- Northwest Conference Hitting Student-Athlete of the Week - Mar. 12-18 (HM); Apr. 9-15 (HM)
Jared Chase
- Northwest Conference Hitting Student-Athlete of the Week - Mar. 19-25 (HM)
* NCAA STATS: 4 Bruins Ranked Among National Leaders in 9 Categories
In the latest NCAA Division III statistics (thru Apr. 15), George Fox is 6th on sacrifice bunts (45), 9th in hit by pitches (59), 23rd in double plays (30), 32nd in sacrifice flies (19), 36th in hits (341) ...
- 3B Danny Clifford is 30th in home runs (6), 41st in sacrifice flies (4), 50th in home runs per game (0.18) ...
- SS Taylor Hunter is 4th in sacrifice bunts (11), 5th in sacrifice bunts per game (0.38), 22nd in hit by pitches (12), 36th in hit by pitches per game (0.41) ...
- CF Jared Chase is 46th in sacrifice bunts (7) ...
- RHP Brian Ranta is 23rd in strikeouts (61) ...
* NWC STATS: Ranta Ranks in Top 3 in League in 6 Different Statistics
In the latest NWC batting statistics (thru Apr. 15), George Fox is 1st in doubles (61, T), 2nd in triples (9), 3rd in at bats (1203), hits (341), 4th in batting (.283), runs (201), 5th in slugging pct. (.382), on base pct. (.364), RBIs (172), fewest strikeouts (214), 6th in home runs (13), stolen bases (37), 8th in walks (105), 9th in fewest caught stealing (16) ...
- David Greenstein is 4th in triples (2, T), 6th in batting (.375), 7th in slugging pct. (.548), on base pct. (.449), runs (30), 12th in stolen bases (9, T), 13th in total bases (57), 14th in hits (39, T), doubles (9, T), 18th in home runs (2, T), 19th in walks (13, T) ...
- Taylor Hunter is 1st in sacrifice bunts (11), 2nd in hit by pitches (12) ...
- Josh Rapacz is 3rd in sacrifice flies (3, T), 4th in batting (.380), 5th in hits (49, T), 13th in RBIs (24, T), 16th in at bats (129), total bases (55) ...
- Danny Clifford is 2nd in sacrifice flies (4), 3rd in total bases (74), 4th in triples (2, T), 5th in slugging pct. (561), home runs (6, T), 8th in runs (28, T), hits (46,T), RBIs (27, T), 11th in batting (.348), 13th in at bats (132), 19th in hit by pitches (5, T), 20th in on base pct. (.408) ...
- Timothy Williams is 2nd in triples (3, T), 3rd in hit by pitches (10), 5th in doubles (10, T), 12th in stolen bases (9, T), 15th in on base pct. (.420), 17th in hits (37, T), sacrifice bunts (3, T), 18th in runs (23, T), total bases (53), 20th in batting (.319), slugging pct. (.457) ...
- Derek Dixon is 9th in sacrifice bunts (4, T), 13th in hit by pitches (6, T), 15th in sacrifice flies (2, T), 26th in batting (.312) ...
- Nick Benish is 18th in home runs (2, T) ...
- Derek Blankenship is 15th in sacrifice flies (2, T) ...
- Jared Chase is 3rd in sacrifice bunts (7, T), 4th in hit by pitches (9, T) ...
- Zach Miller is 17th in sacrifice bunts (3, T), 18th in home runs (2, T) ...
- Todd Nagamine is 15th in sacrifice flies (2, T), 19th in hit by pitches (5, T) ...
- Zac Israel is 3rd in sacrifice flies (3, T), 17th in sacrifice bunts (3, T) ...
In the latest NWC pitching statistics (thru Apr. 15), George Fox is 4th in ERA (4.07) ...
- Brian Ranta is 1st in strikeouts (61), starts (10, T), 2nd in innings (74.1), 3rd in ERA (2.30), wins (5, T), complete games (2, T) ...
- Taylor Dunn is 1st in starts (10, T), 5th in ERA (2.52), 6th in games (12, T), 7th in innings (60.2), 9th in strikeouts (40), 11th in wins (3, T) ...
- Tom Zarosinski is 1st in starts (10, T), 5th in strikeouts (49), 12th in innings (50.1) ...
- Taylor Hill is 6th in games (12, T), 11th in ERA (3.68), wins (3, T) ...
- Alex Keenan is 2nd in saves (3, T), 12th in games (11, T) ...
- Bobby Orozco is 3rd in games (13, T) ...
- Clay Gartner is 12th in games (11, T) ...
- Eric Kitteleson is 12th in games (11, T) ...
In the latest NWC pitching statistics (thru Apr. 15),
- C Josh Rapacz is 6th in putouts (212) ...
- 3B-1B Danny Clifford is 7th in putouts (176) ...
- 1B Derek Dixon is 9th in putouts (140) ...
- IF Derek Blankenship is 15th in assists (64, T) ...
- IF Taylor Hunter is 7th in assists (91) ...
- OF Todd Nagamine is 1st in fielding avg. (1.000, T, 29 chances) ...
* COACH MARTY HUNTER:
Head coach Marty Hunter (Linfield ‘84) is 129-72 (.642, 50-21 home, 58-33 road, 21-18 neutral) to date in his 5th season at George Fox … He was the Northwest Conference Co-Coach of the Year in 2009 … He has guided the Bruins to two post-season appearances in his four seasons at GFU … Against Linfield, he is 7-8 (3-4 home, 4-3 road, 0-1 neutral) …
